Whats left? PLENTY!!! Tomorrow we countersink and finalize the sensor mounts to the fan housing. Mount the cyl. head temp sensor. Replace the fuel pump and filter. Drill and mount the magnets on the crank pulley. put the engine and tin back togather. New thermostat cable. Marry the engine to the trans, and re-install. Plus a hundred and one other things that will need to be done along the way. I hope to drive it to dinner tomorrow night. We'll see whats up about 6pm.

Fearless fabricator, indeed! I'd be more weary of playing footsie with an angle grinder, but maybe that's just me.

lol...I would be afraid I would cut my foot off...I have already tried slowing one down with my thumb

August 5 has come and gone. Happy birthday to me... but no running 914, the best present a guy could get...

Progress was slow, as even with the fearless fabricator, the detail work slowed us down. We decided to divide and conquer, so not many pics from yesterday. One part of the project was to upgrade to a walbro 255 fuel pump. I came to discover that thing is L O N G, and makes packaging up front a challenge. Couldn't get it all to fit in the gas tank area. The pump and filter sorta fit under the gravel guard, but I was a little concerned about lines being a little to close to the moving bits of the steering rack for my comfort. And again, the length of the pump limited the location of the pump/filter down there, and pinched lines were about a 50/50 thing, they may be fine, they may not.

So I/we went with option 3, front trunk. I'll be having another friend who works in sheetmetal make an aluminim cover for the pump/filter/lines that will still allow full use of the front trunk, room to stash the spair, and not be in the way for any future front oil cooler that may come along.

Here are the lines into the fuel tank area, and the lines and wireing to the fuel pump as they were run up the tunnel, thru the tank area, and into the front trunk. The power for the fuel pump is fused, 40amp relay switched, and uses none of the old factory wiring. Just above the lines into the fuel tank area can be seen the sway bar, so I'm confident I'll have no pinching issues.

The motor is back togather, and attached to the trans. Not seen on this blury photo is the Ebay light weight gear drive starter. New factory engine mounts are installed. BOTH of the mounts were fully destroyed when the motor came out. I'm amazed I didn't rock and roll that motor enough to crack a tranny mounting ear. No wonder it didn't shift so well... Dave-O was putting the motor back togather all day yesterday, while I was puzzleing out and running all over town looking for bits and pieces for the fuel pump project, so I didn't get much for photos. The mounting of the magnets in the pulley went as easily as the SDS instructions indicated it would. We mounted the sensor on the opposite side of the motor from the alternator to keep it away from that source of electrons. I added some 1/4" fuel hose, cut down the length of the hose, around the hall sensor wires to keep them safe coming back out of the cooling housing and thru the engine tin. We had the motor up on the workbench, and were able to extend the wires from the sensor to the SDS ecu, and use the test function on the ECU to be sure the magnets were "seen" before buttoning it all up.

Today will be a lazy day- picking up the garage, seeing who took whose tools home, doing some more prep work the engine install. I'd like to get the fuel tank back in, and maybe test it. I'll just run a hose from the 2 out ports of the fuel pressure regulator to make a fuel loop, and power the fuel pump directly from the battery, and after dumping a gallon or 2 of fuel in the tank, let it circulate to check for leaks. I could also get the interior back togather, back pad back in, seat in, vac that up a little. Next week for work is probably 60 hrs and 1000+ miles on the road, so monday night will be my only option to make more progress after today. Maybe next saturday I can get a couple friends over to get the motor in, and we'll have some tuning adventures to report on.

Slow progress on sunday. Slept in. Dad came by, we had a beer on the deck. . Some friends called up for golf and dinner. I got some metal patches painted and installed on the engine tin, re-did the fuel pump instal- again. I wasn't happy with the filter, it was for a 75-76 car, and the inlet/outlet were not the right sizes for the 3/8 line I was using from the tank to the filter, and from filter to pump. A "purolator F21111 has the right size inlet/outlet, so finally tracked that down, changed some more fuel lines, and the tank is almost in. Rinced the it out, and test fit the tank again, the fuel outlets need just a little twist to line up perfectly with the new hose runs.

Here's a shot of the new mini starter- looks good if you ask me!

The to-do list is still a long one- finish up the final checks and wire runs on the engine itself. Pull the front fan housing, alternator, fan and re-allign the sensor. Do the final adjustments to the fuel lines and install tank, test the fuel system for leaks. Stuff the motor/trans in, do CV's, exhaust, install all the intake manifolds, ITB's, linkage, fuel lines, wideband sensor and wireing, and hit the key!

Monday is my only night to work on it this week, we'll see what the weekend holds.

Long day driving a desk, but I did make it to the garage for a bit. Confirmed that the magnets are all "seen". They are seen by the sensor for just a couple degrees of crank movement, and when I was testing them last night, with the plugs in, the compression was enough to cause the motor to spin past the point of recognition, and it seemed as though the sync magnet was not registering. I pulled the plugs this pm and tried the test again, and with the ability to more smoothly, slowly turn the engine over, all magnets registered just fine. Also did a little detail work, routing and securing the hall sensor wire, and taping up the oil pressure hole.

There is a big, odd factory grommet to go here, mine had long since rotted away. So, I put several layers of aluminim tape over the hole, one on top of the other. This is the tape used in the HVAC industry to seal ducts after the install. After about 3-4 layers of this, I topped it off with some black racer tape. Looks kinda bad close up, but once the engine is in the car, bending over the fender to look inside, it'll look just fine for now.

First photo is initial layers of aluminum tape.
Second photo is start of black tape.
Third photo is finished job.

To the right can be seen the plug for the dizzy that the fearless fabricator came up with to seal the hole. I took it out and shot it black to keep it from rusting a little, as it was bare metal when he got done with it.

More progress but no sparky just yet. The engine is in the car, and the bottom side work is all done. Kerry Hunter is installed, wideband installed, clutch/speedo, ground strap installed. Started work on the top side, and the drivers side ITB is in, all wireing on that side is done. Working now on the middle of the motor wireing, and have still the passinger side ITB to mount and wireing on that side to finalize. Need to make some plug wires, the ones in the photos are for show/test fitting/routing.

So, on to some pics-

first photo is the underside, ceramic coated KH system, I wrapped it also to keep the heat down. wideband sensor installed

second photo- I couldn't stand it anymore, I dusted off the trunk lid, shined up the bumper, polished the supertrapp a little, and had to take a shot- its looking like a nice 914 again, rather than a pile of parts.

more pics-

first is the drivers side ITB, I made new, longer threaded rod sections so I can add a small spacer and some rain hats from one of our 914 club vendors...

second is the interior, I cleaned that up a bit and got it all back togather. From the same good 914 club vender, there are 2 of the cool speaker enclosures, both in raw FG, needing to be finished and installed- that will be a nice lazy weekend project once the car is back on the road.

Whats left? A little wireing in the middle of the motor, install the passinger side ITB and connect all the sensors over there, connect fuel lines, route to the ecu and connect the crank sensor, 2x and 3x check everything, add some fuses, and crank it over- see what happens!

I'm thinking saturday will be THE day. She goes or she blows.

Can you share some more information on a couple of items?

The fuel pressure regulator that you are using, is it a rising rate type?
The throttle linkage. That looks trick. I like the cable fit and mount.
thanks,,,,

The old trigger mount thing done quick bit didn't happen?

I knew as soon as you ripped out that engine a bit of DWD would set in...get that puppy off those jack stands as fast as you can or else.

Looking good!

Looks good Dave!

Make sure to call me when it pops (in a good way). I've been stuck working on the Saturn as of late...struts and a bunch of other stuff.

Are you driving the Jackett on Sunday? If you need a seat I've got one open.

I'll give you a call tonight.

Throttle linkage came from here:

http://www.classicandspeedparts.com/s/

Its the same one Jake sells, although modified by him, to work on his DTM systems for the 914.

The cable bracket is the fine work of the mad mechanic, and fearless fabricator, our own Dave-O (Hildebrandt)


The FPR is indeed a rising rate, its an aeromotive #13301, summit or jegs can set you up with one. I liked the way it would mount in my application, and I liked the pressure rates- the stock spring is 3-20 psi, the optional spring, (which is included in the kit, you just need to install it) is 20-65 psi. I'm running 30 right now, which is what Jake recomended for the injectors I'm using. I liked that this one had a lower range than others. If the FPR has a range of 30-80 lets say, and you want 30, what if you really end up needing 28? This one had a good range for the intended install.

I'll keep us all posted, and keep your ears open for a powerfull vvvrrrrooooooom! Or great weaping and sadness...


Dave-O, the jackett is scheduled for its first runs of the year. It wasn't out last weekend due to wet conditions. Not that it would rust with all the FG on that car...

Mark, with your little beer swilling smilie, are you intending to come way down south to Wisconsin and buy me a cold one?

IT LIVES!!!!!!!

I'll post some photos and description of the first start, and thoughts on the project later today or tomorrow when I have more time....

IT LIVES- IT LIVES- IT LIVES- IT LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This could get long.....

Got it all togather the 21st, and hit the key... nothing. again. nothing. again. nothing. It would just crank and spin. Cranked pretty good with the new starter, but no "pop". Kept telling myself it was air in the fuel lines. 4th try. POP, VVVrrrroooommmm, a nice, even 1000 rpm idle.

whoa.

Didn't really expect THAT so soon. I haven't even messed with, well, anything. I sit in the drivers seat, amazed and happy. Next thing is to set the base timing. Turn off the key. Pull it out. Motor is still running..... pulled the 12v line from the factory relay board to the power-to-the-system relays I added, and it dies, as it should. Several days of trouble shooting, and I think its a bad ignition switch, as when I power the new system relays direct off the battery, the same problem occurs, making me think the problem is in the switch or factory relay board, rather than my work.

So, sometimes the key shuts things off, sometimes is doesn't. So tonight, when I got the clutch tightened up, I stayed pretty close to home.

It runs good. Real good.

It was getting dark, so I didn't want to get out in to deer country, and the non-backlit SDS controller was getting hard to read, but I did do a little seat of the pants tuneing, and as they advertise, it is simple. I ran thru the gears a couple times, glancing at the WMS wideband, noting that the suggested factory fuel settings were giving me about 9-10:1 AFR. I left it pretty rich at idle, but above 1750 started leaning things out. Another quick spin, we're around 10-11:1. Pull over, pull a little more fuel from 2k rpms up, and have a look again. Now we're at 11-12:1, and its dark. Not bad progress for 15 min of driving. Sadly enough I have 2 long days ahead of me, so probably no tuning wed/thur, but I could have a short day friday...

Can't wait to use the data logging feature. Basically, warm the motor up. Find a deserted, deer free road, start at 2k rpm or so in 3rd gear, plant the throttle to about 75%, and run to redline. The SDS will record the AFR every 250 rpm and save it for you to look at on the controller. Compare that with what you want at each rpm range, change the fuel value at that rpm range to reflect the same % difference of the AFR you got, and AFR you want. Lock down the controller, take another run, and adjust again if needed. How easy will THAT be.

Before all that, I need to borrow a timing light that works, as mine seems to be fubar'd. I'll set the base timing, which involves just looking at the timing marks with the timing light, and adjusting a value on the controller to "set" the timing to 10btdc. This way the ecu has a reference to what 10 degrees is in the real world, as compaired to whatever the exact timing ended up being based on the magnet installation. You're just fine tuneing the accuracy of the magnets to real world for the ecu.

Got alot of people to thank:

-My wife for her patience, and not asking how much this was all costing.
-Mark Henry, for the hook up on the goods.
-Ross and Barry, the owners of SDS, who are nearly always availible on the phone, and were very helpful in working out harness lengths and routing. Nothing was impossible for these guys, the answer was always: sure, we can do that. How cool is it to actually get one of the principals of a business on the phone?
-Our own Dave-O Hildebrandt, the mad mechanic, AKA fearless fabricator. His relentless push toward progress is nicely balanced by my "Monk" like tendencies to the details, and we work well togather. Not that he does sloppy work, but he pushes me along and I keep an eye on the finer points of the project.
-Lee Frisvold, friend and president of our auto cross club, as well as electronic guru. He teaches automotive electronics, specifically control systems, and in addition to being a positive sounding board of support for the project, what a mind to have on the team.
-Brad Mayeur. If you don't know him, you should. 914LTD is his business, and he likely has forgotten more about 914's than most all of us think we know. A great source of odd bits and pieces for odd 30+ yr old cars. His passion for the 914 is matched only by his depth of knowledge. Between Lee with modern EFI training, and Brad knowing the fine details of the 914's, these were 2 gotta haves on the team. (Brad can be reached at: P914ltd@yahoo.com or at: 309-694-1797)
-Others who had a hand in the madness: Steve Kramschuester, Brandon Hatfield, and the Great Nate. Thanks to you all.


So whats next? Set the timing, get the cyl head temp gauge working, get the new ignition switch from Brad, adjust the shift linkage, and whatever else needs doing. Now some more photos to get current:


Not that its a Porsche, but is a 2 seater, our new to us slightly used tandem

The yellow car.

cyl head temp gauge that is backlit, but not showing a reading. Hmmmmm.

wms wideband. I like it. Installs easy, looks cool, works great.

coil pac mounting.

throttle linkage.

left and right ITB's.

battery area and relays/distrubution block.

ITB's from above

Its 20 min. after 7. Its 28 degrees out. I have a 2.5 hr drive to the dyno. And headers. No heat.

Does this sound like a trip a rational, sane sports car owner would take?

If you answered "yes", you must be a 914 owner.

If you answered "no", sell your 914 and buy a miata.

I don't have a scanner to post the sheets, but I'll add some photos and comentary on the fine tuning of the SDS on 45mm twm's. Changes since the last post have been minimal- I swapped the 1bar map sensor for a 2bar, in anticipation of the turbo going on this winter. That will change the n/a tune a little, but not much, mainly due to the number of cells availilble to adjust the tune. If the system has around 60 cells for values, evenly spaced by vaccume amounts, then all 60 are availible for n/a running with a 1bar sensor. With a 2bar, 30 cells are availible for n/a tuneing, 30 for boosted tuneing. So by running a 2bar sensor on a n/a car, I now have 1/2 the resolution for n/a tuneing, but on the other hand, when the turbo goes on, 1/2 the tuneing will be done!

Well, here is the news. I tried to go into this without any real expectations, just a better running 914. And thats exactally what I got. It starts with about 1/2 a revolution of the starter, and settles into a 750 rpm idle, no stumbles, around 14:1 afr. Max HP was 88.1, TQ was 103.6. If this seems low, know that this was obtained on a Dyno Dynamics system, which generally runs 10% lower than a dynojet or mustang. So 88 hp is closer to 96 at the wheels. Add another 10% for driveline losses, and we're at around 105 at the crank. The engine is stock cam, heads, crank, just has kerry hunter exhaust, TWM's and SDS.

The TQ curve, well not curve so much as straight line is impressive. At 2250 rpm, the TQ is 98 pound feet, and while it rises to a max of 103.6 at 4000 rpm, it stays above 98 till 4750 rpm. Of course its all over by 5k rpm, but what fun on the way there. If we use the same conversions, 103 plus 10% + 10% puts the TQ at the engine at around 125. I was amazed and pleased with the flatness of the curve. I was concerned about losing some TQ with the ITB's, but this does not seem to be the case. It pulls like crazy from 2500 or so right up to where the cam takes a crap on the party and it all goes south at around 5k rpm. At 5250, where HP and TQ meet, I'm making 84 hp/tq.

Here are a couple snaps of the day.

These guys are a big turbo/drag shop, with the owners mitzu 3000gt putting down 720 HP, and is street driven, full interior, and will light up all 4 tires in 3rd gear on the highway if you ask it to. They did a great job on the car, and had some good turbo info for me for the planned upgrades to my car this winter.

Here are a few more pics-

Here are the charts-

Cool project! That's going to make for a nice reliable car. That burley is a cool ride as well. The softride on the back must be plush. They always made nice bikes, to bad they tanked.

Nice. I guess hoser power per dollar is tough to eat huh? that better be one sweet running engine.

Eric- both Burley and Softride are still making bikes- google them and see, they're just not making bikes togather anymore.

Joe- Idles at 1000 rpm as well as any honda, pulls like a freight train idle to redline. Don't forget, this is only about 1/2 way into the project. Next is the turbo. The stock EFI can't handle that as well as the SDS, and I think your carbs would have a tough time with a little un-natural aspiration as well. You are building your car for the SCCA, I'm building mine for me. Its cool both ways, we're both still ripping it up in 914's.